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Horst Steinke
186
la lengua divina, que como tal es una revelación de los dioses, en particular de
Júpiter […] (In that first human “state” his experience is that of finding him-
self “inside” a language, he not being its originator. To exist inside this lan-
guage is for the human living in a world of meanings, the divine language
which as such is a revelation of the gods, in particular of Jupiter […])» (Id.,
De
la lengua heróica del
Diritto universale
a la lengua divina de la
Scienza nuova, cit., p. 63).
390
Wohlfart was therefore justified in calling language «strumento di tutti
gli strumenti (tool of all tools)» (Id.,
Vico e il carattere poetico del linguaggio
, cit., p. 90).
391
G. Palma employs a similar figure of speech: «Vico emphasizes the
elasticity of language, equating to humanity’s innate sense of adaptation.
Through verbal and written communication – which also includes the poetic
language of laws – humanity modifies and improves social institutions» (Id.,
Utopian Worlds: Vico, La Capria and Mazzotta
, in «MLN», 127, 2012, 1, pp. S32-
S41, p. S33). Kelemen agrees with this assessment: «Ma a parte la “lingua” dei
miti, Vico considera anche i principali tipi delle lingue come espressioni di
continuti sociali analoghi o come produtti e strumenti dei singoli gruppi socia-
li. […] Ciò è in stretta relazione con la tesi che la lingua è uno strumento di
potere (But starting with the “language” of myths, Vico considers also the
principal types of language as expressions of analogous social content or as
products and tools of particular social groups. […] This is closely related to
the thesis that language is an instrument of power)» (Id.,
Storia e lingua
, cit., pp.
150, 153).